April Casburn jailed over phone hacking media leak

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Detective Chief Inspector April Casburn has been jailed for 15 months over an attempt to leak details of an investigation to the News of the World.

She had contacted the News of the World in 2010, offering to leak information to the publication for money.

Despite claiming that she had called the paper out of public interest, presiding judge Mr Justice Fulford branded her actions as “a corrupt attempt to make money”.

“If the News of the World had accepted her offer, it’s clear, in my view, that Ms Casburn would have taken the money and, as a result, she posed a significant threat to the integrity of this important police investigation,” he said.

Casburn had suggested that she got in contact with the publication due to concerns that counter-terrorism resources were being squandered on the phone-hacking investigation.

She had spoken to journalist Tim Wood, who wrote up notes on the conversation stating that the former police officer wished to sell inside information.

“Activity of this kind is deeply damaging to the administration of criminal justice in this country. It corrodes the public’s faith in the police force, it can lead to the acquittal or the failure by the authorities to prosecute individuals who have committed offences,” Mr Justice Fulford added.

He went on to note that Casburn would have faced a three-year sentence, had she not been in the process of adopting a child.

The judge admitted to being “particularly concerned” about the welfare of the child and claimed Casburn’s absence in prison could have been damaging.